FBN presents cooperation with Greifswalder meat and sausage specialty manufacturers at the International Green Week in Berlin

Scientists at the Leibniz Institute for Farm Animal Biology in Dummerstorf (FBN) were able to demonstrate for the first time that a higher content of health-promoting n-3 fatty acids (omega-3 fatty acids) in the beef of Holstein Bullen is also produced in the meat and sausage products produced from them preserved. This is a central result of an industry and research cooperation between the Leibniz Institute for Farm Animal Biology (FBN) in Dummerstorf and Greifswald-based meat and sausage specialty manufacturer Greifen-Fleisch GmbH. The collaboration is part of the European research network "ProSafeBeef", which brings together 41 research institutes and industrial companies from 18 countries (see the background). The results are from Friday, 21. January to Sunday, 30. January 2011 presented at the International Green Week in Berlin (see DATE).

To date, not all of the physiological and nutritional properties of beef have been clarified. For example, there are generally few n-3 fatty acids in this meat. However, if the cattle are fed grass or grass silage (high-quality feed made from meadow or field grass preserved through lactic acid fermentation), the content of health-promoting omega-3 fatty acids and the ratio of n-3 to n, which is important for the human cardiovascular system, increase -6 fatty acids become cheaper. In the long-term study, Holstein bulls were fed a ration enriched with n-3 fatty acids, which led to an accumulation of these vital fatty acids both in the muscle tissue of the animals and in the products made from them. After slaughter, the n-3 fatty acid levels in the meat and fat of the test animals as well as the end products corned beef and tea sausage from Greifen-Fleisch GmbH were analyzed and evaluated at the FBN. During the technological processing of the meat by the industrial partner, no changes in the content or pattern of the enriched n-3 fatty acids were measurable. Greifen-Fleisch was able to offer these products enriched with n-3 fatty acids as part of the project and thus pass the high-quality end product on to the consumer.

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King prawns are growing in popularity worldwide. They are delicious and a high-protein alternative on our menu. For environmental and health reasons, however, they are to be treated with caution, as the breeding process can pose problems. Environmental degradation and the use of antibiotics are often associated with the production of shrimp, although the situation has improved somewhat in conventional shrimp farming. Certified "organic prawns" are more expensive, but environmentally friendly, free of drugs and taste much better.

The research project BioHatch, coordinated by the research service provider ttz Bremerhaven, is working to improve the competitiveness of the better product. The aim of the project co-financed by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology is the technical development, planning and construction of a pilot plant for the efficient ecological breeding of giant shrimps in Bangladesh.

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At the invitation of the NRW-Agrar Research Network, experts discussed two days in Bonn on the subject of "Reducing Animal Husbandry - Climate Relevant Gases and Bioaerosols". The aim of the dialogue between science, regulatory authorities and agriculture was to discuss the controversies at the most up-to-date scientific level.

In animal husbandry, gases are produced that can damage the climate: The greenhouse gases methane and nitrous oxide have a much stronger effect than carbon dioxide. Experts from the State Office for Nature, Environment and Consumer Protection NRW (LANUV) and the Kuratorium für Technik und Bauwesen in der Landwirtschaft (KTBL) explained the data basis and methodology for producing the greenhouse gas emission inventory. Prof. Dr. Karl-Heinz Südekum and Dr. med. Joachim Clemens from the University of Bonn also addressed the reduction in emissions from animal husbandry and emissions from biogas plants. It became clear that the reliable recording of agricultural greenhouse gas emissions and the evaluation of various mitigation measures requires further investigation. Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Büscher from the University of Bonn presented in this connection a measuring concept planned in the dairy cattle shed of the test house "Haus Riswick" of the Chamber of Agriculture of North Rhine-Westphalia. Here, long-term studies on emission reduction are to be carried out, with which, for example, the influence of feeding and housing conditions is determined.

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A new study on the frog market in West Africa under the direction of frog experts Dipl.-Biol. Meike Mohneke and PD Dr. Mark-Oliver Rödel from the Museum of Natural History Berlin rouses. Thousands of frogs are except in the sun to dry. Especially in the countries Burkina Faso, Benin and Nigeria the frog trade intervenes dangerously in the ecosystem. For the first time, the study demonstrates the scale of the exploitation of African frogs and the impact on the ecosystem. The authors call for greater attention to be paid to uncontrolled trade in order to prevent harmful consequences for the ecosystem and to suggest alternatives to the local population.

32 interviewed Nigerian frog collectors alone traded 2,7 million frogs a year. Meike Mohneke and Mark-Oliver Rödel examined the trade in frogs in Benin, Burkina Faso and Nigeria with the help of interviews with local collectors, traders and consumers. In northern Benin, for example, many fishermen have recently started trading in frogs.

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EU encourages collaboration of life scientists and engineers

In the EU "BioBusiness" project, life scientists and engineers are working together to improve the housing conditions of farm animals. The EU is funding the project under the Marie Curie Actions - Networks for Initial Training (ITN) program for a total of 2,4 million. The Institute for Animal Hygiene, Animal Welfare and Livestock Ethology of the University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover (TiHo) receives 210.000 Euro from the association to develop an interdisciplinary research network with nine university and scientific partners.

In the network, veterinarians, animal scientists and engineers should learn from each other. "Your scientific education should be expanded and go beyond the boundaries of specialist discipline," explains Professor Dr. med. Jörg Hartung, director of the Institute for Animal Hygiene, Animal Welfare and Livestock Ethology, "by working on joint research projects, the understanding of the working methods of others should be increased." The core of the network is the education of young scientists. During her doctoral studies, eleven life scientists and engineers will be supported. They are assigned to one of the research centers involved, but also make targeted visits to other research sites within the network. The research results are discussed between scientists and industrial partners and evaluated products with regard to their market opportunities.

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Emissions over 72 percent overestimated

Nitrous oxide emissions, especially from agriculture, contribute significantly to the anthropogenic greenhouse effect. However, in contrast to previous assumptions livestock farming in steppe and prairie areas does not lead to increased nitrous oxide emissions. On the contrary, it reduces the release of nitrous oxide into the atmosphere. This was determined by researchers of the Institute for Meteorology and Climate Research - Atmospheric Environmental Research (IMK-IFU) of KIT in investigations in China. The results of the project funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) have now been published in the journal Nature.

After carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane, laughing gas (N2O) is one of the main causes of climate change. One kilogram of N2O has around 300 times more greenhouse effect than the same amount of CO2. Around 60 percent of the emissions of trace gas caused by humans occur in agriculture, for example during the microbial breakdown of nitrogenous excrement from grazing sheep or cattle in the soil. So far, scientists have assumed that keeping large herds of livestock in steppes and prairie areas also contributes to the steadily growing concentration of laughing gas in the atmosphere - corresponding calculations were included in the reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), known as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

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Concept developed for recording consumption quantities

How many antibiotics are used in livestock farming? And which active ingredients are used in which quantities? In order to provide answers to these questions, the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment commissioned the study "VetCAb" - a feasibility study to show how the use of antibiotics in animal husbandry can be measured. In the long term, the data should help to reduce resistance to antibiotics, since the wrong and excessive use of drugs, the development of resistance is favored.

Scientists from the Institute of Biometry, Epidemiology and Information Processing of the University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover (TiHo) and the Institute of Pharmacology, Pharmacy and Toxicology of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the University of Leipzig have jointly developed a concept with which the data on the use of antibiotics with as low as possible Expense can be recorded. Over a period of one year, they have recorded the records of 24 veterinary practices in five counties of Lower Saxony and 66 farms in North Rhine-Westphalia in a central database and finally reviewed the concept of data collection. It was important for them to work out what information is suitable for assessing the quantities consumed and whether such a concept can be implemented.

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General Assembly of the VdAW producer group for piglets and slaughter cattle in Ehingen / Danube

When pig producers are discussing with each other, it's always about one topic: the boar fattening. This is precisely why Peter Huber, the chairman of the producer group for piglets and slaughter cattle in Upper Swabia in the Association of the Agricultural Trade (VdAW), in his opening speech at the Annual General Meeting in Ehingen. advantages

In the alternative to piglet castration many mastiffs see a number of advantages - first of all with good law, as Huber acknowledged. Thus, in the boar mast important performance features improve by 5 to 15 percent, in the case of the precious pieces, the lead is still at two percent. But here, according to the chairman, the first problem already arises. Because of the extremely different levels of lean meat in castrated and uncastrated boars, these could not be classified using the same estimation formula. The uncastrated animals would be grossly underestimated. So the split market is already starting in front of the scale, says Huber.

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Economic analysis of different production systems of beef production

The annual Beef Report has been published and shows the entire spectrum of the international agri-economics network "agri benchmark": The operating data of more than 80 typical companies from 24 countries are updated and evaluated in the current report.

The report, which is comprehensive on 100 pages, provides detailed information on the prevailing production systems, production costs and profitability of suckler cow husbandry and cattle fattening, as well as a time series analysis of identical holdings and the discussion of factors influencing price and cost developments over the past four years.

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Prerequisite is the measurability

Well marbled pork chops are associated with positive traits such as tenderness, juiciness and aroma. An intramuscular fat content (IMF) from 2 to 2,5 percent is desired. In reality, usually only an IMF of one percent is achieved. Dr. Daniel Mörlein from the Department of Livestock Sciences in Göttingen attributes this to the strong cultivation of the usual pig breeds in favor of a high meat content.

At the department's founding colloquium in mid-June, he argued that the IMF should be included as a parameter in a quality-oriented payment and marketing system. The prerequisite is, however, the measurability of the fat content with a non-destructive method that works simultaneously fast and cost-effective and delivers sufficiently accurate results, preferably online in the slaughter process.

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Source: Genetics Selection Evolution 40 (2008), 129 143.

Since individual countries in Europe have already banned the castration of piglets or are about to do so, the meat industry in Germany is also pressing for a more concrete approach to boar fattening. For farmers and slaughterhouses, attractive performance data of the boars in comparison to the Börgen are in the foreground. Consumers, however, may have some cause for concern because boars cause them a bad taste and smell.

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